Soak a bandage or a piece of cloth in some apple cider vinegar and apply the compress on your swollen joints or varicose veins. Wrap well. Repeat the remedy every morning and evening. You can also dissolve 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a cup of lukewarm water and drink the liquid every day.

Burdock Root

This traditional herbal remedy is useful in the treatment of arthritis associated conditions, including acute gout attacks.

According to “The Essential Book of Herbal Medicine” burdock root eliminates the toxins in the bloodstream, reduces inflammation and promotes proper excretion of urine which contains uric acid, and this is why it is commonly recommended as an effective folk remedy for gout.

Health experts recommend combining 20-30 drops of burdock root tincture and 9 oz of water 3-4 times a day, and the treatment should last for a few days.

Many people believe that lemon juice makes the body more acidic, but believe it or not, it actually creates an alkaline environment and neutralizes uric acid. Lemons are rich in vitamin C, which is quite important when it comes to decreasing uric acid level.

Parsley is a great herb to use in a salad, however it also makes a highly beneficial tea as well. Regular consumption of parsley tea stimulates the elimination of uric acid buildups in the joints, especially when combined with mulberry juice.

Drink Plenty of Water

When it comes to drinks, water is the best choice if you want to maintain normal level of uric acid. Water stimulates the kidneys to remove toxic buildups and excess uric acid from the body.

It’s common to hear complaints of joint pain and difficulty walking as a person ages. But why do you think this happens? In the area where the joint meets the socket, there is fluid called synovial fluid to cushion the bones; this fluid lessens with age. Without synovial fluid to cushion joint movement, the bone can damage the tissue surrounding it, causing pain and inflammation. This condition is typically called arthritis. But did you know that another cause of arthritis is a problem with the production of uric acid crystals?

The thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped organ found in the neck. It is part of the body’s endocrine system – which is responsible for the production and regulation of hormones in the body. The thyroid specifically produces hormones that regulate growth and metabolism, which explains why thyroid problems often affect a person’s weight and energy levels. But the hormones produced by the thyroid also regulate the amount of uric acid found in the blood.

In hypothyroidism, the kidneys don’t excrete uric acid adequately, leading to their build-up in the joints as crystals. In hyperthyroidism, the body coverts purines to uric acid too fast, leading to build-up in the joints as well. These crystals damage the tissues in the joint, which causes pain during movement. Prolonged damage to the tissue can cause repeated inflammation and eventual scarring, causing poor mobility to complete immobility.

To counteract the high uric acid levels in the blood, alkalinization therapy is often part of the medical management of gout. But can an alkaline diet work just as well? It has long been debated whether or not alkaline diets have health benefits or is just a passing fad, with counterarguments stating that the body’s pH is maintained at a very constant level despite the acidity of the food being consumed.

However, it goes deeper than this: A recent study in 2010 published in the Nutrition Journal by Kanbara, A., et. al. revealed that an alkaline diet can cause an increase in uric acid excretion through the urine. On the other hand, acidic diets suppress uric acid excretion in the urine.

This study strongly suggests that by adjusting the diet to include alkaline food, it can promote the removal of uric acid in the blood , which implies hope for the removal of formed uric acid crystals in the joints. However, recent research on the favorable effects of dietary modification that specifically targets uric acid crystals in gouty arthritis has yet to be published (the most recent study was in 1959!)

Eating More Alkaline Food
An alkaline diet is typically high in vegetable and legume intake – food that has high pH or low acid content. An alkali diet can include the following food products:

Note also how the typical acidic or acid-forming diet contains high levels of sugars, processed foods, bread and meat. Another interesting anomaly here is lemons. Lemons are very acidic yet are considered by proponents of this system to be alkaline forming.

Different studies have shown how beneficial alkaline therapy and alkaline diets can significantly reduce the levels of uric acid in the blood, which paves the way for research on their effects on uric acid crystals. Can you believe that simply tweaking your diet to include more greens and other fruits and vegetables and help reduce the symptoms of gouty arthritis? Medical research indicates that this idea has potential. Surely we have reached the point where “we have the technology”: We can analyze these ideas using metadata and large numbers of people in order to arrive at solid conclusions.